Lawmakers and providers say California’s 988 crisis network is underfunded and unevenly integrated

Assemblymember Bauer Kehan, the original author of AB 988, and crisis‑center operators told a joint Assembly Health and Select Committee on Native American Affairs oversight hearing that the state’s 988 crisis system has not matched resources to demand.

In the most direct account, Assemblymember Bauer Kehan said AB 988 was designed to give “someone to call, someone to come, and somewhere to go.” She urged the committee to use the outcomes review to identify why interoperability and mobile crisis linkages remain incomplete and to press for funding that aligns with the law’s vision.

The hearing’s lead provider witnesses cautioned that demand has outpaced funding. Tara Gamboa Eastman, director of government affairs for the Steinberg Institute, said California’s in‑state answer rate for phone contacts is roughly 85 percent but that text and chat answer rates remain near 40 percent, leaving many young and LGBTQ+ callers routed out of state and without local knowledge. “At a time when we should be expanding capacity, California is instead losing it,” she said.

Dr. Jonathan Porteous, CEO of WellSpace…